My wife and I are going to Switzerland between 4/22/06-5/1/06 and would love to have some tips about this part of Switzerland.
I have discovered a beautiful hotel in Giessbach called Grandhotel Giessbach. Has anyone stayed at this hotel? If not, could you suggest another hotel in the Brienz, or Giessbach area that has a view of the Mountains and the lake? Also, in Giessbach, is it difficult to get back and forth to the trains for day trips? Would other dining options be limited if staying in Giessbach? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.

Topping for you so you can find some more input. This gorgeous old hotel (giessbach.ch) is across the lake from Brienz. When I last visited the area, I recall folks getting off the lakeboat at the foot of the falls to take the funicular up to the hotel. What a spectacular location! But I do think the lakeboats are your only way to and from.
Take a look at the sbb.ch website and you'll see that, if you key in Brienz and Giessbach, your choices are a 13 minute boatride from Brienz to the foot of the falls or a longer route via Interlaken. Beautiful to be sure.

There are a number of hotels in Brienz itself, but I don't think any of them will have that fairytale quality. We stayed in one just across from the boat dock and train station, and I can look up the name if you're interested. It was nice, but had none of the seclusion or ambiance of the Giessbach. J.

I guess it depends on whether you're looking for convenience or ambiance, as well as how much you plan to do day tripping, etc. I think you're referring to one of the hotels that my 8 year old (at the time) called the castles on the lake. Not a bad description. Our approach was to stay in Meiringen --a very good location for day trips in the Berner Oberland- and we took the trains and boats everywhere. You could consider staying elsewhere and having a great meal at the Glessbach...Brienz itself is the place to catch the boats, take the bus to the Ballenberg open air museum, etc. Look up the train/boat schedules and match them to your plans before you book would be my suggestion. If it looks too hard, find another hotel because the Swiss have designed a marvelously convenient transport system...

If into a little walk i think it's not a bad stroll from Geissbach to Brienz - at least it didn't seem far when i walked it. But is a remote location - actually hotels in Brienz may have better views - Giessbach is on the lake's north side - and view from here to the south are not nearly as spectacular as views from Brienz to the north, towards the hotel - the high mountains rising from the lake. But the Giessbach hotel is very impressive, sitting in a sylvan setting by the falls - great for folks seeking solitutde.

We didn't stay at this hotel but did visit it when touring the Brienz area. We arrived by boat but left by train. The walk to the train station was a little over an hour - maybe an hour and fifteen minutes. The first half of the walk is downhill and the second half flat. Just a side note - for most of the walk, you are walking on the road; fortunately there were not too many cars when we went.

There are also bus stops near the hotel. But at the time of year that we went (early May) the buses seemed to run so infrequently that it would have been the same as walking (or even longer).

I think this was a very nice area and would consider staying here on future trips.

If you are interested, I have pictures of the Geissbach hotel/falls/walk down to Brienz train station that I can e-mail to you (I never learned how to post photos on the web).

It's a good stop on a lake cruise - go up for ice-cream and take pix at the falls, but not really to stay there as a guest if you're into getting around the area a lot. It's tucked away, kinda romantic.

WK